List of categories
Over the years, Wheel of Fortune has used a great variety of categories for its puzzles. According to the rule sheet from the first board game in 1975, the first eight categories on the show were Event, Fictional Character, Landmark, Person, Phrase, Place, Thing and Title. Not counting plural forms, there are currently 36 categories, and two more that are possibly retired. Current Categories * Around the House: A more specific subset of Thing, introduced on September 6, 1998. For its first season of use, its category strip had a drawing of a house. * Before & After: Introduced on February 27, 1989. This category consists of two phrases, names, etc., combined by a word that ends the first and starts the second (e.g. WHEEL OF FORTUNE COOKIE, which combines "Wheel of Fortune" and "fortune cookie"). * College Life: Introduced on October 24, 2005 and used only during college weeks, resulting in extremely sporadic usage. * Event(s): Often includes an -ING ending, much like What Are You Doing?, which is essentially a subset of this category. Some puzzles in the early 1990s stretched the definition, most notably UNDER HOUSE ARREST and SLIPPED ON A BANANA PEEL which are more logically Phrase instead of Event (although SLIPP''ING'' ON A BANANA PEEL would fit). It was also stretched to its limits in the early 2000s (see What Are You Doing?, below). Of the categories with plural forms, Events is very likely the most sporadic. * Family: Introduced in Season 7, possibly in the third week of the season. The puzzle answer is the name of two or more famous people who are closely related. * Fictional Character(s) * Fictional Family: Introduced on November 30, 2007 as a subset of the above. * Fictional Place: Very rarely used; however, it is believed to have been around since at least the mid-1980s. There is only one known instance of it being used in the Bonus Round. * Fun & Games: Introduced on September 6, 2004. Interestingly, it debuted in a Toss-Up round. * Food & Drink: Introduced as On the Menu in Season 21. Renamed on September 11, 2006 (the Season 24 premiere), most likely to make the category all-inclusive for foods and drinks that would not necessarily be found on a restaurant menu; between Seasons 21 and 24, some food-and-drink puzzles were (perhaps misleadingly) categorized as Thing or Around the House, or shoehorned into On the Menu. * Headline: Apparently introduced in Season 19, and very rarely used. For its first season or so of use, its category strip had a drawing of a rolled-up newspaper. On at least one occasion in late 2003, a Headline puzzle was followed by a multiple-choice trivia question related to the answer. * Husband & Wife: Introduced in Season 7, sometime after the first six episodes. Strangely, the first known instance spelled out the word AND even though Same Name was already using ampersands at that point. * In the Kitchen: Introduced on September 27, 2005, as essentially a subset of Around the House. Used in the Bonus Round only six times, between January 30, 2006 and September 26, 2007. Very rarely used in the main game since Season 27. * Landmark: Very rarely used, to the point that Pat often mentions its rarity. * Living Thing(s): Apparently introduced in Season 18. * Occupation(s): Known to have been used as early as March 27, 1979. * On the Map: Introduced on April 14, 1999 as a more specific subset of Place. * Person and People: Until the introduction of Proper Name in Season 14, proper names of famous people were included in this category. Previously, the host would remind contestants that "Person/People does not always mean proper name(s)", something that Pat often forgot to do. * Phrase * Place(s): Until the introduction of On the Map in Season 17, specific geographical locations were included in this category. * Proper Name(s): Introduced on September 6, 1996. Proper Name may also refer to the name of a sports team, college, or far more rarely, the name of a business. * Quotation: Known to have been around since at least March 15, 1978. Quotation was altered between Seasons 10 and 12: during these seasons, the contestant would win a bonus for identifying the source of the quotation (and Charlie asked the question instead of Pat). In Season 16, the extra question was the basis of a new category called Who Said It?, which is listed below. Unusually for the "early" categories, there is only one known instance of Quotation being used in the Bonus Round. * Rhyme Time: Introduced in September 1998. Answers in this category are a phrase that has a rhyme in it, or far less commonly, a single word that has rhyming syllables (e.g. HODGEPODGE). Has only five known uses in the Bonus Round. * Same Letter: Introduced on September 15, 2010, used for alliterative answers. At least three Same Letter answers have had ampersands in them. * Same Name: Introduced on September 6, 1988. This puzzle includes two names, phrases, etc. that end in the same word (e.g. ARETHA & BENJAMIN FRANKLIN or SEWING & SLOT MACHINE); between about 1993 and 1996, it sometimes used three "names" (e.g. SEWING SLOT & VENDING MACHINE). For its first season of use, AND was spelled out in the puzzle; after nearly every contestant called N-D-A first, the word was replaced with an ampersand. Perhaps as a result, other puzzles began including ampersands as well, most often Things puzzles that consisted of multiple things listed together. Starting in the late 2000s, Same Name puzzles sporadically revert to spelling AND; it is believed that this is done when the answer is very short. * Show Biz: Introduced in Season 14. For its first season or so of use, its category strip included a drawing of two crossed spotlight beams. * Song/Artist: (e.g. LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING BY TIM MCGRAW). Originally Artist/Song; known to have been used since at least April 1993. The Song/Artist form has been around since at least 1999, but the show alternated between the two for the next several years before settling on Song/Artist; Artist/Song has not appeared since March 2008. * Song Lyrics: Apparently introduced in Season 19. Known to have been used in the Bonus Round only twice: November 17, 2004 and December 22, 2006. * Star/Role: The puzzle lists an actor/actress and a character they are known for portraying (e.g. BILL COSBY AS CLIFF HUXTABLE). Introduced on July 17, 1989 (Bob Goen's first daytime episode) as Person/Fictional Character, it is known to have been renamed by mid-1990. * Thing(s): Possibly the category that has been split up the most. Around the House, Food & Drink, In the Kitchen, and Living Thing are all unarguable subsets of Thing, although some puzzles that might originally have been called Things could now fit in other categories as well. * Title(s): Three specific subsets (Movie Title, Song Title, and TV Title) were introduced in Season 23 ("TV" on September 12, "Movie" on September 19 and "Song" on October 13). As a result, Title itself has become increasingly sporadic. Interestingly, the Bonus Round has not used Title since May 10, 2005, and has never used any of its subsets. On rare occasions, TV Title refers to the name of a network instead of a TV show. * Title/Author: (e.g. THE PEARL BY JOHN STEINBECK) Apparently introduced in Season 9. Similarly to Song/Artist, this was sometimes inverted as Author/Title; as of February 2008, Title/Author is always used. * What Are You Doing?: Introduced on September 12, 2007. Guarantees that an -ING ending will be somewhere in the answer, although three puzzles in mid-Season 26 broke that rule. The category was created most likely to prevent oddities; several Event puzzles in the mid-2000s stretched the definition, such as SINGING OFF-KEY. Possibly-Retired Categories * Best Seller: Introduced in Season 22 and very rarely used. It was long believed to have been retired after February 2007, but appeared again in April 2011 after a nearly four-year absence; the extreme length of time between its apperances would suggest that its use in April 2011 was a fluke. This is also the only category known to have been used in the Bonus Round exactly once. * Classic TV: Introduced in Season 14. Although it usually refers to the names of classic TV shows, it may also refer to characters or events from them; at least one Classic TV puzzle is known to have used the same format as Star/Role. For its first season or so, its category strip had a drawing of a console TV. This category has only two known appearances in the Bonus Round: May 4, 2004 and February 21, 2006. Its last two uses were in May 2008 and April 2010, and it did not appear at all in Seasons 26 or 28; further, an episode in December 2008 had the answer THE GOLDEN GIRLS categorized as TV Title, suggesting that there might have been a movement to retire Classic TV. Once again, its isolated appearance in April 2010 may be another fluke. Video Game Categories The Wii, Nintendo DS, and Facebook adaptations of the game use Classic Movies and Book Title, neither of which appear on the actual show; however, the latter is identical to Best Seller. At least some of the time, these games also refer to TV Title as TV Show Title. Retired Categories * The 20's through The 90's: Introduced in Season 12, these puzzles included things and events related to the decade in question. For about their first season of use, the "decade" categories were followed by a $1,000 trivia question (asked by Charlie) related to the decade in question. Also, until the category strips were changed in September 1995, the names were written out as words instead of numbers (e.g., The Twenties). By about the late 1990s, only The 70's and The 80's were used (plus The 90's from about 2000 onward), and there is no known appearance of any after September 2005. However, The 60's made a one-time return in April 2011. * Composer/Song and Show/Song: Used only once each at some point in Season 13. It is believed that the only puzzle in the former category was RAVEL'S BOLERO, and very likely that the Show/Song puzzle was SOUTH PACIFIC'S YOUNGER THAN SPRINGTIME (it is known that the latter involved South Pacific in some way, and this is the most well-known song that would fit on the puzzle board). * Foreign Word(s) and Foreign Phrase: Two self-explanatory categories introduced in Season 9. It is not known why Foreign Words was sometimes pluralized even though Foreign Phrase also existed. They were last seen early in Season 10. On a September 1992 episode where MAZEL TOV is the answer to a Foreign Phrase puzzle, Pat explains that the answer has several acceptable Anglicized pronunciations, giving a very likely explanation for this category's short life; he also called it "the category from Hell", perhaps because of the long streak of incorrect letter guesses. * Nickname: Known to have been used as early as May 31, 1979, its last known appearance is on the August 31, 1989 daytime episode. It is not known if the category was "un-retired", as there are currently no other known episodes before 1988 to have used it. * People (magazine): A special category used only during the November 12, 2007 celebrity week. Its category strip used the logo for People magazine, and the puzzles were show biz topics that might be seen in the magazine. * Person/Title: The name of an actor/actress and a work they are famous for (e.g. CANDICE BERGEN IN MURPHY BROWN); sometimes, "starring" or "stars" preceded the word "in". Its first known appearance was on a Goen episode around November 1989; it is known to have been present until at least late 1995, so it is logical to assume that it was retired when Proper Name was introduced. Also, some Show Biz puzzles use the same format formerly used by Person/Title. * Rock On!: Introduced on October 25, 2005 and initially used only on college episodes, but later used on "normal" episodes as well. Each puzzle was themed to rock music in some way, most often referencing a rock act and/or song. Charlie O'Donnell introduced the category in a deep voice, except for one episode where Pat deliberately introduced it in a deadpan voice. On December 3, 2010 and February 9, 2011, Charlie's introduction was overdubbed with Pat saying the name of the category, following the decision to dub over Charlie on episodes that he recorded before his death. It is believed that the category is now officially retired, as these are the only two episodes after his death in which the category has been used. * Slang: Introduced on September 7, 1992 and used through Season 12 (apparently retired around April 1995). Many Slang puzzles relied on archaic or, in some cases, outright fabricated terms (e.g. OFF THE BEAM). In its short life, it was used in the Bonus Round with disproportionate frequency, often appearing there several times in one month. "Bonus" Categories Between 1990 and 2008, the show had categories which offered the contestant a bonus for answering a question related to the puzzle. These were initially worth $500, but increased to $1,000 in Season 13, $2,000 in Season 16, and $3,000 in Season 17. This line of categories was phased out gradually; the last one seen on the show was Where Are We? in September 2008. In Season 27, the show introduced a new category called What's That Song? which also offered $3,000 for a "bonus" question, but it was quickly retired as well. If a contestant did not give a correct response to the "bonus" answer, it was initially offered to the next contestant(s) in line until someone gave a correct answer (except for Megaword). From September 1995 onward, only the contestant who solved the puzzle was allowed to guess. There are several instances between 1997 and 2003 of the "regular" categories being followed by trivia questions related to the answer. The last known instance of a trivia question related to a non-"bonus" category was in September 2003, with a multiple-choice question following the Headline puzzle QUEEN ELIZABETH CELEBRATES MILESTONE. * Clue: The puzzle described a specific object. Apparently introduced in October 1990 and last used on January 18, 2005. This was the only "bonus" category used on the daytime version, with a bonus of $250. Until the introduction of Who Is It?/Who Are They? in 1992, Clue puzzles sometimes described people or fictional characters as well. * Fill In the Blank: Debuted in Season 10. Interestingly, Fill In the Blank has actually been two different categories: ** Initially, Fill In the Blank was an incomplete phrase that ended in a question mark; the contestant received a bonus for providing the exact remainder of the phrase. On rare occasions, the question mark was in the middle instead. ** By January 1994, the "new" Fill In the Blank category was introduced. This one was a word puzzle similar to Tribond, where the answer was three (sometimes four) phrases, names, etc. that had a missing common word, almost always at the beginning (e.g. ? DOE ? DEERE ? MCCAIN for answers of John Doe, John Deere and John McCain). This version is known to have been retired by September 2002, as confirmed by an alt.tv.game-shows posting by a contestant. ** Interestingly, the two different Fill In the Blank categories overlapped until around November 1994; the last known instance of an "old-style" Fill In the Blank was November 4. A month later, the "old style" Fill In the Blank was renamed Next Line Please (see below). * Fill In the Number: A phrase with a missing number in it (e.g., ## TROMBONES LED THE BIG PARADE, with the number being 76). Debuted on April 7, 1998 and last appeared April 28, 2004. Interestingly, the last Fill In the Number puzzle had two different numbers in it (# SCORE AND # YEARS AGO), when all other known instances had only one. Contestants would often solve these puzzles in different ways; some would read the number signs as "number", some would omit them, and some just said the number while solving. * Megaword: The puzzle is an eight- to thirteen-letter word, which the contestant received a bonus for using in a sentence. Debuted on September 20, 1994 and last seen April 7, 1995, with at least 20 playings during that time and only one known buzz-out (COPACETIC, on December 22). The category was likely retired for several reasons, the most obvious being Pat's clear dislike of it. * Next Line Please: An incomplete phrase, which the contestant receives a bonus for completing; unlike the "original" Fill In the Blank, it did not end with a question mark (and obviously, always required adding the next part of the phrase, instead of the middle portion). The category first appeared under this name on December 9, 1994 and was last used April 17, 2008. * Slogan: Debuted on February 9, 1996 as $1,000 Slogan. The puzzle is a product's slogan, and the bonus question involves identifying the product. (However, there are at least three known instances, one of which was a Toss-Up, of Slogan puzzles that had the product name in them; obviously, the question was not asked.) This category was likely retired after an incident on January 30, 2008, where the puzzle EAT FRESH was solved "Subway, eat fresh" and ruled correct for both the puzzle answer and identification of the product. February 19, 2008 is the category's last appearance. * What Are We Making?: The puzzle listed ingredients to a common food dish, which was then identified for the bonus. It was used only once, on October 23, 2007, and the contestant correctly identifed S'mores as the answer. Not counting the intentional one-shots listed below, this is the third known category to have been used only once. * What's That Song?: Introduced on September 16, 2010 and only used four times (the other three being October 28 and December 21, 2010 plus February 8, 2011). The puzzle was a song lyric, and the bonus question involved identifying the song's title. The songs were correctly identified on October 28 and December 21. * Where Are We?: The puzzle gave three short clues to a specific place. Introduced in Season 10; last used November 28, 2008. * Who Is It? and Who Are They?: The puzzle gave a clue to a specific person or, far less often, a fictional character. Known to have been around since at least 1996; last used April 23, 2008. * Who Said It?: Apparently introduced in September 1998. Identical to Quotation, but with a bonus for identifying the source of the quotation. Last used October 27, 2006. Intentional One-Shots Besides the three categories listed above that were only used once, the show has used several unique categories: * 70's Song/Artists, 60's Event, etc.: During the week of December 27, 1999 (the first Retro Week), the category in Round 1 was appended with "60's" or "70's" to go with the "retro" theme. It is known that December 27 used "70's Song/Artists" and December 28 used "60's Event", so it is very likely that this theme was used throughout the week. The second Retro Week in 2001 did not do this. * Really Long Title: Used as a joke on the April Fools' Day 1997 episode, which had Pat and Vanna playing for charity. The answer was SUPERCALI-FRAGILISTIC-EXPIALIDOCIOUS, hyphenated in that fashion to fit on the board. Treated as a "bonus" category, it offered an extra $2,000 for identifying the musical that the word was from; Pat, who solved the puzzle, gave the correct answer of Mary Poppins. ''Wheel 2000'' Categories Wheel 2000 used Person, Place, and Thing in its bonus round, but had a unique line of categories in the main game: * Above & Below: Puzzles related to Earth. * Book Soup: Puzzles related to literature. * Bright Ideas: Puzzles related to inventions. * Every Body: Puzzles related to body parts. * Globetrotter: Same as Place. * It Adds Up: Puzzles related to mathematics. * Just Stuff: Same as Thing. * Lab Test: Puzzles related to science. * Made in the USA: Puzzles related to the United States. * Measure It (sometimes Measurement): Puzzles related to measures and the like. Apparently never chosen. * Paint by Numbers: Puzzles related to art. * Space Case: Puzzles related to outer space. * V.I.P.'s: Same as Proper Name. * Word Rap: Puzzles related to grammar and punctuation. Category:Lists